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Thanks everyone. I'll give the freezer method a try first and move on from there if need be. I'll just use the byproduct--all the slightly meaty gelatin--to help give body to some other meat-based sauces down the road. Best, Alan

So, an interesting note on my FAIL related to my above success. For the test above, I used a cheap pack of "Au Jus" mix. It worked perfectly. When I actually spent all day making an incredible meat stock and tried it again, the mousse simply deflated. I wasn't quite sure what the issue was. At first I suspected additives in the Au Jus mix that might have actually promoted the foam, but at the end of the day, it just didn't quite make sense to me as they were only small amounts of things like cornstarch. I thought about the other possibilities, and the significant amount of natural gelatin in my home-made stock gave me pause. Could it be binding in ways that inhibit other hydrocolloids? A quick Google search confirmed: Polysaccharide-protein interaction: a rheological study of the gel-sol transition of a gelatin-methylcellulose-water system. Oh well. Now I just have to figure out how to distill the flavor of the meat broth while leaving the gelatin behind. Sounds easy enough. Actually, I know that there are expensive devices that can do this. Would there be an easier/cheaper way? Freezer distillation of some sort? All ideas welcome. Best, Alan

Kerry, As usual, you are a genius. This worked absolutely perfectly. I used 2 cups meat broth, 1 gram xanthan and 6 grams high-viscosity methyl cellulose. It created a perfect, hot, meat-broth mousse. I'm going to try something with one of the more heat-stable carrageenans too, as suggested by Mike, just in the interest of science. ;-) Best, Alan

Hi Mike, I'll try it! I should be receiving iota and kappa carrageenan, as well as two different viscosities of methyl cellulose to play around with. I have guar gum already, so I should be able to figure something out. I'll keep the info about calcium in mind. It might be a week or so, as I have a business trip coming up, but I'll definitely post my results! Best, Alan

I found konjac powder and noodles locally. It is also very interesting stuff. It makes a thermo-irreversible gel, and holds together quite well. I can see why one of the recipes for a hot mousse in the Khymos book called for it. On the other hand, I can imagine it leading to an odd mouthfeel if too much is used. I'm looking for creamy, and preferably melting, like the texture of a chocolate mousse would be. In other news, I experimented with agar again, this time adding some xanthan to see if I could get better results. I could. The bubbles were as fine as they had ever been, but the foam still was not stiff enough to stand on its own. I may be able to find something workable, but for now, I think I'll just wait for the other ingreients to arrive. They may end up being just what I need, especially the methyl cellulose, which sounds very promising, or perhaps the carrageenan. At an rate, I'll keep everyone posted. Best, Alan

Sorry for any confusion. I'll try to be as clear as possible here: I want to take pure, clarified meat juice and mix one, or a combination of, hydrocolloids into it to create a liquid/gel that when heated and put in my N20 canister will create a nice, stable, warm mousse. What is key is that regardless of how the mixture is prepared (heating/cooling/mixing, etc) it either must be able to be turned into a mousse while it is still in a warm state, or I must be able to reheat the mixture and then turn it into a mousse in a warm state. BTW, I did order some methyl cellulose (high viscosity and low viscosity types) and carrageenan yesterday. I am going to try and find konjac locally. I think that with all of these ingredients I'll be able to figure something out. Best, Alan

Ok, so I tried the xanthan. It is very cool stuff btw. I couldn't believe how much 1 g thickened 300 g of water. Still, it wasn't thick enough, so I added another gram. It foamed, but not quite as much as I wanted. I added 1 T of vegetable oil, and the bubbles were even finer, but it still wasn't perfect. I'll try 3 g tomorrow. In the process of doing this, though, I started to wonder if my wording is causing confusion. This definitely created a foam, and one that seems to be relatively stable. But the foam was not the type that I am looking for. I want something the texture of whipped cream, whites beaten stiff, or chocolate mousse. Perhaps I should say that I am looking for a way to make a water-based, stable mousse, that I can create with my N2O canister. I want something that can stand on its own and yet still have a soft texture. I don't want to have to contain the foam in a small bowl to keep it from spreading. I think for such a foam, the bubbles must be much smaller than what I'm getting right now. I'll test with a larger amount of xanhan, but if my further explanation helps any, I'm up for additional suggestions. Best, Alan

I found something from the Khymos site: It is a hot transparent savory mousse flavored only with meath juice and foamed with a n2o canister. It uses xanthan, konjac, and carrageenan. A small amount of maltitol is also added. I've noticed that some of the hydrocolloids function better with small amounts of sugar, glycerol, oil, or fine particulate. I'm wondering if agar is one of those, as I have tried everything from small amounts to very large amounts with pure water, using the method above, and having no luck at all. I did pick up xanthan and guar gums today, and I'll try them both. First I'll try a proportion of 300g water to 1 g xanthan as this seems about right given the recipes in the Khymos book. My goal is to find something that works with pure water and move on from there to fat-free flavored, though not sweetened, liquids, such as a clarified meat broth or vegetable juice. If I want to buy konjac, carrageenan, or methyl cellulose does anyone know of a good, reasonably priced, online source? Best, Alan ETA: methyl cellulose

Hi MSK, I have tried this exact method using many different proportions of agar to water. Even when the gel is extremely firm, it doesn't seem to be working for me. It will certainly foam, but it won't hold for more than a couple of seconds. Best, Alan

I haven't tried Xanthan, as I don't have any. It looked the most promising out of the possibilities beyond agar, so I was kind of hoping to hear from someone that it would definitely work before purchasing some. In the Khymos guide, I don't think that any of the Xanthan recipes use an N2O canister. Have you tried this, or has anyone else? Best, Alan

Hi Kerry, Indeed I have. This is what gave me the idea for using the agar. I can't claim that I've read every word of it, but I haven't found anything that sounds exactly what I'm trying to do. Best, Alan

I'm looking for something very specific. I'd like to do a water-based warm foam with a N2O canister that has no added fat/cream/milk, etc. I want the foam to set up and be relatively stable. My idea is to make a beef broth foam or something similar that can be injected into something like a popover. I have tried all kinds of experimentation with agar using plain water, and I can get it to foam, but it doesn't hold at all, no matter how strong I make the solution. Any ideas? Thank you!

New Places: Broadway Brewery 44 Stone Public House I don't have a comment on either place yet. Broadway Brewery has been open for a while and has had mixed reviews. 44 Stone Public House just opened and has had good reviews so far from what I've heard. An unrelated question: Do any of you know where I can buy fresh/cake yeast in Columbia? Best, Alan